Chapter 9 - Love and War

Ryan was sitting alone during his lunch break. He wasn't in the mood for any of Seth's obsessing today, especially after the conversation that they had shared last night after the crazy trip to the Bait Shop. He couldn't believe that he had almost been found out and was still feeling guilty about his feelings for Summer.

Summer. Oh god, Summer. He'd walked into the school that morning, acting calm and mature but when he'd noticed her approaching him and his brother, he took off. He knew that it had been extreamely cowardly of him but he just couldn't face her, not yet. They were barely even friends, maybe she'd just blow off their whole encounter, he hoped so, despite the disappointment that rushed him everytime he thought about it.

Ryan was sitting in the library, trying hard to focus on some work. He may have been ahead in pretty much all of his classes, but he really needed the distraction. He'd picked the place because he knew that there was no chance of running into anyone he knew, he could just relax, calm down and...

"Ryan?" Great. This was just great.

Ryan turned in his chair to look at who was disturbing him. Immediately, he tensed. "Zach."

"Hey, man. What are you doing in here? I figured you'd be with Summer." Zach asked, pulling up a seat.

"I've got some work to do." Ryan pointed out, motioning to the open books in front of him, trying to make Zach realize that he was busy and he couldn't afford to be suspended from school right now on account of violence.

"Oh. Well, thats cool." Zach said, nodding and placing his elbows on the desk uncomfortably.

"Do you want something?" Ryan questioned after a brief silence.

"Actually, yeah. I want Summer." Zach replied, turning to stare at Ryan.

"Give it up, man. She's moved on, she doesn't want you back, you can't change that." Ryan said, returning his stare. His hands were balled up loosely on the table in front of him, just in case. This guy was really getting on his nerves.

"I have to do something, I'm not going to lose her." Zach said, strongly.

"You've already lost her." Ryan reminded, confidently.

"I don't believe you. She can't just stop liking me, I didn't do anything, it was all a mistake. Look, if I have to put up a fight, I will." Zach stated, determination evident in his voice. God, he just didn't know when to quit.

"Go ahead, do what you want, it won't change her mind." Ryan advised, standing up and gathering all his books before heading for the exit. He was still uptight, even after he had left the room. He slowly walked down the hall as the bell sounded, announcing that classes were about to begin. He turned a corner and glanced down the hall, letting out a sigh. Summer was standing in front of his locker, waiting for him. There was no way he was going to be able to relax today.

"Hey." Summer greeted with a bright smile on her face.

Ryan nodded to acknowledge the greeting. He focused on the lock on his locker.

"Everything okay?" She asked, frowning a little due to the lack of response she'd gotten from him.

"Yeah." Ryan replied half heartedly as he popped open his locker and exchanged his books, pulling out what he needed for the rest of the day.

Summer stared at him for awhile, trying to read him. There was definitely something weird going on with him and she intended to find out. "Look, I need to talk to you about something." She stated, biting her lip after she'd spoken.

"Can't talk, I've got class." Ryan said, closing his locker door and looking at her for the first time since the conversation started.

"Well... It's important." Summer stated as she crossed her arms and stuck out her chin, staring back at him.

"I'm busy. Could we do this after school?" Ryan asked, starting down the hall towards his next class with Summer in tow.

"I'm busy after school." Summer informed, glancing up at him.

"I'm sorry, I can't do this right now. Talk to you tomorrow?" Ryan asked, not waiting for an answer before slipping into his classroom after the bell sounded a second time, signaling that he was late.

"Yeah, bye." Summer quietly said, more to herself than to Ryan. She glanced at the ground solemnly and slowly turned and headed away from the room.

Ryan looked over his shoulder in time to see her leave before he took a seat at the back of the room, feeling like shit.

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Summer was sitting in her car which just so happened to be parked in front of the Cohen mansion. After meeting her father for dinner she had gone straight over there, she needed to talk to Ryan, it was important, like she had said earlier. She was confused as of to why she'd been sitting there, staring at the house in front of her for the past ten minutes, it should have been easy. This so wasn't like her.

Finally, she made up her mind and pushed open the door of her car, hopping out and straightening out her skirt. She made her way to the entrance of the residence and knocked on the door.

"Summer, hey!" Seth Cohen answered and a smile immediately covered his face. Summer mentally kicked herself for not heading straight to the pool house.

"Hi, Cohen. Um... is Ryan around?" Summer asked, looking over Seth's shoulder to peek inside the house.

"Yeah, he's in the pool house." Seth answered, hints of curiosity found in his voice.

"Okay, thanks." Summer said as the boy stepped to let her in.

"So... you're here to see Ryan?" Seth questioned, closing the door and following her to the kitchen.

"Yeah, why wouldn't I be?" She asked as she stopped and turned around to face him.

"Because you've never wanted to see him before and actually, you two don't even talk." Seth stated, clearly confused.

"So? I need his advice about something." Summer informed, placing a hand on her hip.

"Advice about what?" Seth asked, connecting the conversation with the one he'd had with Ryan hours before.

"Something. It's none of your buisness, Cohen." Summer said, trying to push past him towards the sliding glass door that lead to the backyard.

"And it's Ryan's buisness?" Seth questioned, stepping in front of her.

"Yes, actually, it is. God, what's your problem? I just want to talk to him." Summer asked, getting frustrated.

"Is there something going on between you and Ryan?" Seth shot back, quickly.

"What? No, of course not! We're friends!" Summer said, trying to convince both Seth and herself of the words.

"Do you like him?" Seth asked again, staring at her hard.

"No! God, Cohen, you're such as ass." Summer said, trying to make her way past him again.

"I think you like him." Seth stated, defiantely as he sood in her way for the second time.

"Whats going on?" Ryan asked, stepping inside through the back door, giving a confused look to Seth and Summer.

"Nothing, I was just leaving." Summer said, obviously angry as she turned and headed for the kitchen's exit.

"You're leaving? But I thought you wanted to talk to Ryan?" Seth asked in a tone that was clearly bitter. Ryan raised his eyebrow, still standing by the door.

Summer stopped and turned around, giving Ryan a helpless look.

"Thats what I thought." Seth said, leaning against the counter and staring at Summer.

"Seth, whats going on?" Ryan asked, stepping further into the room.

"Summer came over to see you." Seth stated, giving Ryan a big smile that was clearly fake.

"So, whats the problem?" Ryan asked again, not understanding why Seth was so angry.

"Thats the problem! Summer came over to see you! Dude, why don't you just admit that something is going on between you two?" Seth asked, raising his voice. Ryan was taken aback.

"I should go." Summer offered, quietly as she began backing away from the scene.

"No, no. It's okay. You wanted to talk, I'll leave you two alone." Seth said, the same bitter tone poisoning each of his words as he pushed off the counter and brushed past Summer, leaving the room.

"Seth, come on, man..." Ryan pleaded, making his way around the table and following him.

"Whatever, man, it's cool!" Seth yelled over his shoulder as he made his way up the stairs.

Ryan stopped in the middle of the foyer and watched him dissapear behind the corner at the top of the stairs and listened to the slamming of his brother's bedroom door.

"I'm sorry." Summer apologized, quietly. Her arms were crossed loosely over her chest and she was watching Ryan sadly, regreating her decision to stop by tonight.

"No, you didn't do anything." Ryan said, shaking his head and turning to face her.

"I'll leave." Summer said, her eyes falling to the floor as she began towards the front door.

"Didn't you want to talk?" Ryan asked, giving her a sympathetic look.

"It's not really the best time." She stated, stopping in front of him and cocking her head towards the direction that Seth had took off in.

"Sure it is, come on." Ryan said, taking her hand and pulling her back through the kitchen towards the pool house. There was this feeling that shot through his hand and spread throughout his body when he touched her, kind of like electricity. He did his best to ignore it as he lead her around the pool and entered his room.

He dropped her hand as they both made their way inside and shut the door behind them. Making his way over to the bed, he sat down and watched as she slowly did the same.

"Whats up?" Ryan asked, resting his elbows on his knees and leaning forward, turning his head to look at her.

"I really shouldn't be here right now, it's my fault that Cohen's so upset." Summer responded, her hands tangled together and resting in her lap.

"It's not your fault, he's just jumping to conclusions. We didn't do anything wrong." Ryan coaxed, telling the truth.

"Well, what about the other night at the Bait Shop when you told Zach we were together?" Summer asked quietly, convinced that the question was stupid.

"That was nothing, I was just... helping a friend out." Ryan replied. Summer nodded and a silence fell over the two. They sat awkwardly beside each other, each searching for words.

"Anything else you wanted to talk about?" Ryan asked, quickly.

"Actually, yeah." Summer answered, pausing to bite her lip. "Last night you said there was something you thought that I should know, you just never said what it was."

Ryan's eyes dropped from her face and focused on the pool outside. He sat up straight again, the question catching him off gaurd. Seth was already mad enough, he didn't need Summer knowing the truth anyways. But maybe if he told her now, there was a chance that Seth would calm down faster instead of having the whole thing blowing over in time for them to hook up. Ryan wasn't even sure that they were going to hook up. He wasn't sure why he was still considering Summer either, not after the way Seth has went off. But there was something about the feeling that hit him when he grabbed her hand that kept the idea in his mind and twisted his entire plan.

"Chino?" Summer asked, staring at him, waiting for the answer. It had been killing her all day long and she swore she was going to explode if he didn't say anything soon.

"I...I..." Ryan stuttered, nervously. His mind raced back and forth between his best friend and the girl sitting beside him and eventually he just stopped trying to think, seeing as it wasn't getting him anywhere anyways. He decided to take a different approach to answering the question.

"Last night, Seth asked me if I liked you." He paused to swallow down the nervous lump in his throat and glance at Summer to check her reaction. She had the same look on her face as she did when Seth had bounded out of the club last night and interrupted their conversation. She was desperate to know what the point of this was.

"I said that I didn't and I told him that he was crazy for thinking so. I told him I'd never do something as low as taking you from him. But... But I..." Ryan stopped to swallow again and bit down lightly on his tounge to consider for the last time if he wanted to do this or not.

"Go on." Summer urged, lightly. She was chewing on her lip, nervously, trying not to get her hopes up.

"I want you." Ryan declared, strongly. He looked back at her, waiting for her to push up off the bed and leave in a hurry.

Summer stared at him in disbelief with wide eyes. Her lip made a popping sound as she stopped nibbling on it and she sat there, unable to move. She had wanted this for weeks but she had no idea how to react.

"I'm sorry, you should go." Ryan said, trying not to show his disappointment as he pulled his eyes ahead of him again.

Without thinking, Summer reached out and placed a hand on the side of his face, turning his head towards her before leaning in and kissing him. Ryan eyes shut automatically as soon as her lips touched his and he immediately kissed her back like it was some kind of reflex. She kept her hand where it was, cupping his face and she felt his hand slip around her and push lightly against her lower back.

Their lips remained pressed together for a few more seconds and then Summer pulled back, too soon in Ryan's oppinion. He slowly opened his eyes and looked at her, a smile that almost seemed shy to him playing on her face. Her reaction brought his classic half smile to life.

"Summer..." Ryan started, the novelty of the kiss wearing off as he caught his breath, guilt flooding him quicker than ever before. The way she was looking at him was so good it was painful and it made doing the right thing hurt even more.

"We can't do this." He finished, watching the smile fade from her face and a serious look replace the joyful one she had in her eyes.

"But you just said you wanted to." Summer reminded, confused.

"I know. And I do. It's just Seth..." Ryan said, trying hard to pull his eyes away from her perfect lips.

"Look, I understand that he's your brother and you don't want to hurt him, but what about me?" Summer asked, suddenly really mad. She wasn't about to let Cohen screw up another one of her relationships. This one hadn't even started and he was already interfering.

"What do you mean?" Ryan asked, not realizing that he wasn't the only one who felt strongly about the other person in the room.

"I want this, too. You can't make everyone happy, Ryan. I know that Cohen loves me and everything but don't turn me down thinking that I'll go back to him, because I won't. You know that I would make you happy, why let him get in the way of that?" Summer replied, trying hard to convince him that this was right.

He sat silently for awhile, mulling over her words, mulling over everything that would happen if he said yes and what would happen if he said no. She was right, being with her would make him happy and he hasn't felt that way for weeks, not since Lindsay left. But Seth would never forgive him and he couldn't live with that.

"I'm sorry." Ryan apologized, quietly. He turned away from her and focused on the carpet in front of him, he couldn't watch her anymore.

"Fine, let Cohen mess everything up. I really wish you'd do something for yourself for once though, Chino." Summer said and got up from the bed, leaving the pool house without glancing back at him.

She made her way around the main house to the driveway, where she got in her car but instead of leaving right away, she just sat there again, feeling like she'd done this too many times that night. She felt bad even though she shouldn't have. It wasn't guilt that came because of kissing Ryan and doing that to her best friend, it was that her words might guilt Ryan into being with her, even though that was kind of the point of them. She pushed it back, letting the anger rise up inside her, things were easier that way.

She fired up the engine and backed out of the driveway, speeding off into the night.

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Alright, I know it's a little short, but I'm really working up to Ryan and Summer, sorry if it may be as slow as possible. So I'm going to keep you kids in suspense for awhile longer, I might not be able to update as much as I have been lately, due to the end of winter break. The wait might be a week or maybe two, tops.

Also, I'd like to let you all know that I was very tempted to name this chapter Bro's Before Ho's. Owned.